MPs' move on 'Independent'

NEIL KINNOCK, the former Labour leader, and John Watts, Tory chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, yesterday joined the list of MPs demanding editorial independence for the Independent and Independent on Sunday following their proposed takeover, writes Patricia Wynn Davies.

Fifty-eight Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs have now signed the Commons Early Day Motion seeking the guarantee. Michael Heseltine, President of the Board of Trade, is expected to give the go-ahead today for the bid by a consortium led by Mirror Group Newspapers.

The European Commission said yesterday it would not oppose the proposed takeover of the two newspapers. The proposal was formally notified to ensure that there was no breach of merger regulations.